A group of nine Upper Sixth German A Level students spent a week of the Easter break in Germany, honing their skills and knowledge ahead of their final exams this term. Mr McIntosh, Teacher of German, led the trip and provides the introduction:
“On the same day King Charles III landed in Berlin Brandenburg airport for his inaugural overseas state visit, the Trinity Sixth Form Germanists did the same for our trip to Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig. On the first day, Alfie Edwards became the first Trinity student to address the Bundestag, holding a 30-minute speech in fluent German promoting British-German relations in the post-Brexit world, and then we visited a nearby organic market and inspected some ecological potatoes and Spargel (white asparagus)! Or perhaps I’m confusing the two trips – here is a more reliable student account…
Upper Sixth student Dan Ekundayo writes, “After our flight was delayed in classic Billigflieger-fashion, we set out first towards Berlin, where we were met with amazingly straight Prussian avenues and spectacular views of famous monuments that I had hitherto only ever seen on textbook front covers. Visiting a communist war memorial, a former Stasi-operated prison as well as the Holocaust memorial in East Berlin was fascinating and a reminder of the city’s dark past that lies beneath its colourful modern façade. All of this left us hungry, and we were treated to a filling meal at a traditional Gaststätte.
“The next day we took a train to Dresden, a city still scarred from its horrific WW2 devastation but with as much cultural richness as the capital. Listening to a teacher explain the history behind every minute detail might sound boring but somehow Herr McIntosh managed to capture our imaginations as we explored the city centre (covering 75 kilometers in 4 and a half days), and we ended up taking a liking to its gothic and baroque churches, in particular the Frauenkirche.
“We then made our way to Leipzig, taking in a church service in Bach’s former church and finally got to sample a couple of Bratwürste. Our final day consisted of climbing mountains in the Sächsische Schweiz, a tough, sort of scary but ultimately fulfilling adventure as we reached the summit and took in the breathtaking scenery. All in all, it was extremely rewarding to travel to a country that I have been studying for several years and now I can proudly say “Ich bin ein Berliner”.
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